When implementing a CRM system for your company, keep the following considerations in mind. test update
1. Think about your entire team.
It’s easy to gauge the value of CRM software purely in terms of how it makes work easier for your sales, marketing and customer service reps. However, there may be ways your CRM can make work easier for other departments, such as HR or logistics. If so, structure your mobile CRM to benefit these teams, too.
You should also consider how your mobile CRM can facilitate communications across all of your departments. You can streamline this communication through your CRM software’s information-sharing or built-in messaging tools.
2. Know why you’re using your mobile CRM.
Chances are that your overarching mission when using CRM software is to save your team time. You’ll likely have a similar goal when implementing a mobile CRM solution, but you should get more specific. That’s because, given the numerous advantages of mobile CRM, you likely can’t harness every benefit. Instead, decide which advantages your mobile CRM will directly facilitate the most.
For example, let’s say your primary reason for using a mobile CRM is to support the needs of your team so they can be entirely remote. In that case, you should focus on dial-in features instead of reporting. This way, your team can easily convene for calls without ever being in the same room. If your main need with mobile CRM is minimizing your team’s workload upon returning from work travel, focus on mobile data access and reporting.
3. Look at the larger technological picture.
When you think of mobile CRM, you might think of employees accessing the CRM software on their personal phones. In reality, this picture presents a few potential problems.
For starters, personal phone CRM use erases work-life balance for employees. It’s also a security issue, as a lost personal phone could suddenly jeopardize your company’s information. Additionally, there are potential installation problems, as some mobile CRM apps only work on iPhone or Android — but not both. And certainly, your team’s personal phones aren’t all one or the other.
That’s why you should look beyond the mobile CRM to all of the technology that your team will use. This might mean buying work smartphones or tablets for your team and restricting mobile CRM use to only these devices. It also entails taking steps to ensure the security of your CRM and the data it holds. From endpoint to endpoint, your CRM should be secure and user-friendly for your whole team.
4. Consider your offline CRM needs.
In an ideal world, your mobile CRM is accessible all the time. In reality, not all locations have uninterrupted internet access, despite the prevalence of Wi-Fi. You’ll need to consider your mobile CRM’s offline capabilities as you find a solution.
As you search for the right app, ask yourself: Can your mobile CRM facilitate reporting and data analysis without real-time updates? Can it store your employees’ offline updates for syncing once the employee comes back online? A good CRM should do both with no issue.
5. Keep your mobile CRM flexible.
Flexibility is key when choosing a mobile CRM solution. Flexibility doesn’t solely pertain to employee ease of access at all times and locations; it also pertains to a CRM’s ability to be easily modified and fully scalable.
For example, if your company pursues an international growth opportunity, you need your mobile CRM to have multilingual and multicurrency features. It should also integrate seamlessly with other platforms and scale across all your departments.
A mobile CRM that you can use today should always be ready for use tomorrow. More sales, marketing and customer service tools often means more customers — which is why you’re using CRM in the first place.
A mobile CRM system is an effective CRM system
Today’s business environment is dynamic, with distributed teams and customers that expect prompt, 24/7 service. Your sales, marketing and customer service teams will be empowered to deliver if they have access to a robust, user-friendly mobile CRM tool. The result will be more closed deals and improved customer satisfaction. So, if you’re in the market for CRM software, be sure to look into the mobile application each vendor offers. Also, look at whether it measures up to the full-featured desktop version of the platform.
Tejas Vemparala contributed to this article.
